After Beni promised to face her shadow not to escape her past, but to properly move forward into the future.
Perhaps it was because we were already tired from battle and then had a bit of a squabble on top of that.
We chatted briefly before both falling asleep without meaning to.
I suppose there's nothing wrong with getting some extra sleep since we had plenty of time anyway.
As we held each other like body pillows and slept deeply, it happened.
Thud!
"Huh?"
"W-what's that...?"
A heavy sound coming from somewhere. My mind instantly cleared and I was wide awake.
"...Beni. Could the second floor's guardian break this space?"
"No. The second floor guardian is the Minotaur. He's tough and strong, but this magic can't be undone by brute strength alone."
Of course. It would be impossible to manipulate spatial distortion with pure physical force.
This is a fantasy world, so perhaps the kind of strength that defies common sense in novels might work... but honestly, at that level it would be considered a special ability.
"It must be that, right?"
"Yeah. That foul-tempered Morgana wouldn't have created ordinary magic."
Beni sighed and got up. But she froze mid-rise.
Bang! Crash! Bang!
"Ugh!"
Her small body trembled as if frightened by the continuous loud noises.
It can't be helped. Beni is currently in a mentally vulnerable state. At this rate, she won't be able to properly cast her magic.
So I carefully took her hand.
Slightly warm temperature. The sensation of soft skin and slender fingers transmitted to me.
She must be about the same build as me, yet she feels like a doll. Perhaps this is how Ellie and Lidia see me.
Making a mental note to try using this perspective later, I shrugged toward Beni.
"It's okay. You're stronger now than you used to be, right?"
"Y-yeah..."
"If that's not enough, let me try something different."
I gently embraced her from behind. Wrapping my arms around her soft stomach and burying my nose in the nape of her neck, I whispered.
"Beni. Will you protect me?"
"...!"
I know how men are such pitiful creatures who want to look cool in front of women.
And in the Pan Continent, a world of gender role reversal, the same applies to women.
Perhaps Beni is more vulnerable than usual right now. She might be hypersensitive like a small animal, reacting fearfully to the slightest stimulus.
But she's not the type to cower in fear when there's someone behind her who needs protection.
Though I haven't known Beni for long, there's one thing I know for certain.
She truly cherishes the people around her. And I've gradually become something close to a friend to her.
A small spark ignites in Beni's previously frozen eyes. Some might call it an illusion created by the atmosphere, others might say it's simply her pupils dilating and reflecting light... but I want to assign more meaning to it.
Something like determination.
"...Stay still."
Beni took a deep breath and clenched her fists.
A faint shimmer rose from her small body. Visualized magical power. She was probably trying to draw out all the power that had recovered while we slept.
I stayed as still as possible as instructed. I knew well that unnecessary actions could only distract her concentration at times like this.
After gathering her magical power for quite some time, Beni raised one arm. Then, with a still trembling voice, she began her incantation.
"Iron bars. Stagnation. Deprivation. Screams. And isolation."
Like uttering words that came to mind without filter, a disorderly enumeration of words.
But they were painting one clear mental image.
"None shall escape, and none shall break through."
Crude iron bars surrounded Beni and me. The prison, fluctuating with dark red magical power that didn't seem to be Beni's, somehow smelled of blood.
I could tell immediately. This was probably a recreation of the iron cage that imprisoned Beni in her childhood.
According to Beni's story, being trapped in the iron cage was suffocating and frightening, but it was also the safest place.
Because He who swallows the twilight would only begin his experiments after dragging the children out of their cages.
So the cage was both Beni's prison and her safest sanctuary... and also a wall she couldn't break until the very end.
Beni was now drawing out the deepest of her traumas for my sake.
Understanding how difficult this must be for the current Beni, when normally it might not be so hard, I silently tightened my arms around her.
A moment later, Beni lowered her raised arm and said in a tired voice.
"This is the best I can do. We should prepare ourselves mentally since we don't know what might happen when the magic collapses."
A voice tinged with subtle mischief. I too pulled up the corners of my mouth into a grin as I replied.
"Even in the worst case, I won't die alone, so at least I won't be lonely!"
"Don't say such unlucky things!"
Just as Beni turned toward me with a shriek.
Bang! Crack... Crackle!
The white space began to crack.
Sensing that the cube would break any moment now, Beni tackled me to the ground.
"Get down!"
"Ugh!"
Beni, true to her high-ranking adventurer status, pinned me down with strength disproportionate to her small frame. As if she intended to be my shield even if the magic broke.
Thinking I couldn't let Beni bear all the burden, I frantically tried to push her shoulders away. Right at that moment.
CRASH———!
With a sharp sound like breaking glass, the entire space began to crumble into pieces.
The falling white debris bounced off the iron bars and scattered far away. Shortly after, flames spread and engulfed the surroundings.
Whoosh!
Could hell be like this? Fierce flames filled my vision as if trying to burn the entire world.
Sharp spatial fragments crumbled, and the iron bars that had been protecting us from them were melting with a sizzling sound.
What's going on? Did we fly into another space when the magic broke?
There's only one place in the Labyrinth that could have flames like this.
The 7th floor where the God of War sleeps.
If we really flew all the way there, we need to be extremely careful. Even for someone like Beni, wandering alone on the frontline 7th floor without her shadow would be...
"...Yona?"
"Yes?"
The ominous thoughts filling my head vanished at the sound of a familiar voice.
Slowly turning my head toward the source, I saw Lidia with an expression of disbelief.
She was surrounded by fierce, flame-like bright red aura.
"Oh."
Come to think of it, I don't feel any heat from these flames. So they weren't real fire but Lidia's aura?
...But why is Lidia here? And what's with this enormous amount of aura emission?
It seems difficult even for someone like Lidia.
As I tilted my head in confusion, Lidia called my name again with a voice mixed with relief and gratitude.
"Yona!"
Lidia ran toward me, withdrawing the aura that had been burning the surroundings. I too stretched out my hand with a bright smile of joy.
"Ms. Lidia! You came to rescue us!"
"Yes! I'll get you out of there right... huh?"
Lidia stopped right in front of me. Her red eyes began to waver aimlessly.
"B-Beni? Why...?"
Like someone who thought a platypus skeleton was fake and tried to pull off its bill, only to be surprised that it didn't detach.
And as if passing a baton, Beni, who was on top of me, began to move as Lidia froze.
"Ugh... w-what's going on? Where is this...?"
"Oh, you're back to your senses, Beni? You can release the magic now! Ms. Lidia came to rescue us!"
"Lidia did? Really?!"
Beni's face brightened as she lifted her head.
Then her eyes met Lidia's, and she froze as if someone had pressed a pause button.
Creak.
Like a broken robot, Beni awkwardly looked back and forth between me, herself, and Lidia.
She opened her mouth with a trembling voice.
"C-calm down, Lidia. I can explain everything!"
"Beni... dressed like that, with Yona in this state, in a magic that only the caster can escape from, in this position... do you really have something to say?"
"Yes! I know this situation looks very easy to misunderstand, but please listen to me first..."
"Ah, Beni. We're in trouble. It seems our clothes and underwear were all burned by Lidia's aura just now... mmph?!"
Beni hastily covered my mouth and looked up with an awkward smile.
There stood Lidia, already wielding a large greatsword.
"Yona. I'll save you now."
"Huh? But I'm not in danger anymore?"
"No. From what I can see, you are."
After saying this with a resolute attitude, Lidia swung her aura-covered greatsword at the iron bars.
Clang!
It was the bell that signaled the end of this ordeal.
...Or perhaps the sound of Beni's reputation being destroyed.